


i'll jump (if you jump too)

by CaseNumber825



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: BAMF!Aziraphale, BAMF!Crowley - Freeform, Historical Inaccuracy, Imprisonment, M/M, MerMay, Merfolk Don't Have Genders, Merperson!Aziraphale, Pirates, Rating May Change, Slight Graphic Violence, Still-a-demon!Crowley, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-28 13:07:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18757048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseNumber825/pseuds/CaseNumber825
Summary: Almost half-way through MerMay 2019 and I finally decide to post something!It's 1689 and Crowley is enjoying his brief stint into the world of piracy. It has everything a demon could want. Plundering, murdering, raiding.... and he barely had to lift a finger to corrupt or tempt the humans around him.But when the crew stumble across the opportunity to capture and incapacitate a creature thought too dangerous to contain, suddenly the demon is forced to reevaluate everything he thought he believed in.





	1. Chapter 1

Today had been a good day. Not a Good Day in any sense of the word, no, but a good day for Crowley. Which, really, in his own honest opinion was the only sort of good day worth having. The heat of the setting Caribbean sun beat down against him as the smell of salty sea air invaded his senses as he thought back on the actions of the day.

It had been easy for him. He’d been on board _The Tainted Serpent_ for near on five years now, just after he decided he’d quite like a go at this whole piracy business. Had corrupted, tempted, and enticed grown men and women to perform all sorts of sinful acts. Once Crowley had set his sights on a new recruit, there wasn’t much the poor soul could do to resist. He hadn’t chosen to captain the ship though, that was far too much hassle, and if he was the captain then he couldn’t have had his most entertaining brand of fun.

The man he’d chosen, Tricky Blythe, had been a loyal crewmate for little over a year. He was usually boring, predictable, and had no flair or imagination for piracy. It had taken just a whisper in the ear, a slight suggestion that he’d garnered himself a loyal band of crewmates who, when combined as one force, could probably overthrow the current captain. It was a complete lie. Crowley had chosen the ship’s captain personally and, unless he got bored of the woman, she would remain captain so long as Crowley stuck around.

Still it had been good entertainment to watch the man attempt to, very publically, rally a, quite unenthusiastic, crowd of pirates to mutiny against Captain Knotley. It had been even more entertaining to watch his punishment after the fact. She was extraordinarily imaginative when it came to punished those who wronged her. Tying two sticks of dynamite firmly in the man’s beard, then tying an extra-long fuse around his body to give him time to drift far enough away from the ship in his dinghy before the explosion occurred, was quite the stroke of genius.

So, yes, today had been a good day. His superiors Down Below should have been quite content with his actions of the day. To the point that he decided he’d earned a nice, long rest. The ship had been safely docked at one of the uninhabited islands that Crowley had more-or-less gifted to the captain. For selfish reasons mostly. Being on a moving ship for too long was tedious and sometimes Crowley liked to get off and stretch his legs on dry land. Which is what his plan was, right after his rest. His feet, clad in his trademark snakeskin boots, were resting casually on his side table, wide brim hat tilted over his face, doublet thrown over a nearby chair and waistcoat unbuttoned as he allowed himself to drift between sleep and wakefulness. Demons, as a rule, tended not to sleep. Why sleep when you can perform Evil Deeds with no rest? But, Crowley was no ordinary demon, and sleep was one of life’s little pleasures.

He was just at the point of relaxation when a loud call jolted him rapidly into consciousness,

“Captain, you gotta come see this!”

Well, thought Crowley, if they thought the captain should see whatever it was they’d found, then obviously that meant that Crowley had to see it as well. Naturally.  The crewmate sounded equal parts excited and scared, which could either mean that they’d found previously undiscovered treasure, or people that had somehow wandered onto the islands without realising it had been claimed by pirates, or they were moments away from being attacked by carnivorous predators. And Crowley didn’t really want to miss that if that was the case. So, on went the tinted spectacles, demonically altered to never slip or move, even in the toughest conditions, to hide his yellow, serpentine eyes.

By the time he’d strolled to the location that the crewmate had indicated most of the rest of crew was already there and crowding around the discovery, the captain at the front. Not predators then. Which was a bit of a shame but you can’t get everything you want. The crew were muttering nervously between themselves, and Crowley felt his pace quicken. It was unusual for them to get this excited by things. They parted when Crowley made his presence known and Knotley waved him over. What awaited him when he got to her side was almost enough to make him take a few steps back.

Seemingly unconscious in a small rock pool, lay a creature that Crowley was convinced he would never see in his time on Earth. Humans had a tendency referred to them ‘merfolk’, ‘limniad’, ‘naiad’, or sometimes the uneducated used the term ‘mermaid’. All were incorrect, though their true name had been long lost to time.  

What they were, in fact, were celestial creatures. Once, many millennia ago, they had been amongst the angel hierarchy. Crowley himself had already Fallen by this point, but he remembered hearing about the group of angels who had been punished by Him. Thrown down to Earth to live out their immortal lives as creatures of the deep. What the cause for the punishment had been and what they had been sent here to do, Crowley didn’t know, and hadn’t really cared to know. Having resided on Earth for as long as he had without seeing even a glimpse of one, he almost hadn’t even believed they existed.

He couldn’t deny the sight in front of him though. The creature’s lower half was aquatic in nature, a long scaled tail in a mix of metallic blues and creams and browns, splitting into a large set of sky blue fins at the bottom. One of those fins appeared to have been slice right at the point where it connected to the rest of the tail. There were more sky-blue fins further up the tail, and a couple more on its back, then finally finishing down the lower half of the arms.

The scales that decorated its tail, extended all the way up its torso and neck, the quantity and density of them reducing the further up they went. The skin of the creature that looked more humanoid was pale, _almost too pale_ Crowley noted, though a celestial glow still seemed to envelope it. The face was round and full, much like the rest of its form, scales scattered around the circumference of it and white-blonde curls lay flat against its head.

“Now would ya look at that?” Someone said behind him, “That’s a thing a’beauty ain’t it”

“Never seen one up close before” Someone else replied, “Think we could touch it?”

“Shut it, you,” The second was chided, “You’ve heard what those things can do, don’t think we should go anywhere near it”

In Crowley’s opinion, the first member of the crew had been quite right. The creature was beautiful. The humans might have thought so because of the celestial influence, but Crowley was a demon, so his opinions were all his own. And his opinion was that this was probably the most beautiful being he had ever laid eyes upon.

That wasn’t his biggest concern now, however, as he surveyed the state of the poor thing. Deep cuts littered the majority of its body. In addition to the gash in its tail fin, there was a particularly deep wound along the side of its torso, and it was holding its wrist almost protectively, even in its unconscious state.

“Gentleman!” Captain Knotley interrupted Crowley’s thoughts, “I think what you’re all failing to realise here is that we’ve got ourselves an opportunity.”

Crowley turned to look at the woman, eyebrow raised in question. Another crew member vocalised his question, “What do ya mean?”

Knotley rolled her eyes, “Can you imagine what we could sell this for at auction? Some noblemen would kill for the opportunity to have their own _'mer-pet'_ ”

The demon as the rest of the crew allowed her plan to process in their heads, and slowly, one-by-one, the grins appeared on their faces.

Crowley was about to voice his own thoughts, when a loud trill sounded from the rock pool. They all turned at lightning speed to find wide ocean-blue eyes staring back at them. Every muscle in the creature’s body looked tensed and ready to bolt. Crowley suspected, however, that it was quite likely that it could go anywhere, even if it wanted to. It had managed to pull its torso into an upright position, though it was semi-slumped over one of the jagged rocks.

A cruel grin spread across Knotley’s face and she crossed the short distance between the crew and the creature.

“Captain...” Crowley warned.

She waved him off and continued on her way, “Pretty thing aren’t ya,” She cooed as she got to the rock it was on, reaching a hand out on take hold of its chin, “And you’re going to make us all one hell of a pretty penn-FUCK!” She cried out.

The creature had lashed out its good hand, sharp claws slicing easily through the captain’s clothing and skin. Crowley liked Knotley well enough, but he had to supress a grin at the affronted look on the woman’s face. He had tried to warn her, after all. Unfortunately for the already weakened, her response to the attack was to ram the butt of her pistol into its temple, knocking it out cold. A testament to either how weak the creature was, or how angry Knotley was. Usually a strike from a human wouldn’t be enough to knock a celestial being out.

“Bind its hands and get it on the ship and in the spare tank.” She growled at the crew, each of them rushing to do as she asked. It was unwise to dither when she was already pissed off. “That things either going to make me a fortune, or I’m going to use it for my own entertainment.”

Crowley watched with controlled nonchalance, “Careful Knotley,” He reprimanded, “wouldn’t want to let your anger get the better of you. You won’t get anywhere near as much for it if it’s dead.”

Knotley almost looked like she wanted to take a swing at him as well, but, even behind his spectacles, a stern look from the demon was enough to convince her otherwise. With a grumble, she pushed past him and stalked her way back to the ship.

“I want everyone on board and ready to set sail again within two hours. We’re a good seven days from Tortuga, and I want that thing off my ship and up for sale as soon as possible”

All Crowley could think was; did they even have a tank on board big enough?

***

As it turned out, maybe.

Well, except it wasn't really a tank as such. It was, in fact, a large tub. Probably closer in size to a large, deep bath as opposed to a tank made for a creature like the one they'd found.

It had taken several members of the crew a good hour to fill the tub up with buckets of water. Most of them were exhausted by the time they took off. Crowley supposed he could have helped, but he was more preoccupied with the thoughts running through his head.

On the one hand, what should he care what happened to a celestial being after it had been stupid enough to get itself injured. Then again, it had been so long since he’d last talked to another being that was even slightly like him. Not counting other demons. He chose not to count other demons because all the other demons cared about was how quickly they had filled their individual quotas.

Or maybe he chose not to count other demons, because other demons didn’t tend to cause this stirring in his gut. Other demons didn’t make Crowley want to reign Hell down upon a human he’d not considered hurting before, just because said human had struck them. Other demons didn’t make Crowley feel the way he was currently feeling about the creature that he knew was merely two decks below him.

It took him all of 30 minutes after they set sail to make his way down to where the creature was being kept. A single low-ranking member of the crew had been tasked with guarding it, though when Crowley got to the room the ‘guard’ was snoring on a stool in the corner and the creature was staring up at the ceiling. Its eyes turned towards the door as it creaked open and, upon seeing Crowley, it let out a high-pitched trill, loud enough to pierce the through the air around them and  causing the ‘guard’ to bolt upright.

“Mr Crowley, sir, what’re you doin’ ‘ere?”

Crowley jabbed a thumb towards the same door he’d just walked through, “Out, kid,” He ordered, “I’ve decided I’m going to keep an eye on it instead”

No one questioned Crowley when he’d decided upon something. As scared as they were of upsetting the captain, the idea of upsetting Crowley was something inconceivable to even the bravest of pirates. So, with a nod and a quick, “Yessir”, Crowley was finally left alone with the being currently plaguing his thoughts.

Said being seemed to have inched itself as far away from Crowley as it could, a wary look evident on its face. Not that it could inch that far away. Evidently, even though it was a large tub, it was still far too small for the creature that was currently residing in it. Its brilliant tail hung limply over the edge of the tub, fin twitching in what was most likely discomfort.

“So,” Crowley began, conversationally, pulling off his spectacles. There wasn’t much of a reason to keep up appearances; he knew the being could sense his demonic presence as soon as it’d set eyes upon him, “Do you have a name?”

The creature remained quiet, though its eyes widened at the reveal of Crowley’s own.

“Oh, don’t look like that,” Crowley admonished, “You know what I am, just as much as I know what you are… angel”

He had thought that that might placate the being; the knowledge that the other knew he was a heavenly being as opposed to a creature of human folklore. What it actually seemed to cause was a look of hurt, masked with a glare from those lovely eyes.

He put his hands up in surrender, “What did I say?”

“Not an angel. Not anymore.” The being’s voice was soft and somewhat scratchy, presumably from disuse, yet still stunning. Also distinctly masculine sounding. Perhaps the being was like Crowley, preferring to present as male as opposed to female. A question for later, for now the demon was more interested in the strong reaction to the suggestion that they were an angelic,

“Oh, come now,” He brought the stool up to the tubs edge and set with his elbows propped up on the rim, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so angelic in my life.” The glare softened, as the being turned their head, “You were punished weren’t you?” A nod, “You didn’t Fall though… that makes you an angel still, doesn’t it?”

A beat of silence.

“Did you? Fall, that is?”

Crowley quirked an eyebrow up. He didn’t think the differences between a turned demon and a Fallen angel were that great.

“I have encountered many a turned demon. I have also encountered many with demonic influence.” The being explained, “Always, they have a different aura. Never any hint of Good. You do.”

Crowley would have been offended. Him, having some semblance of Good still remaining. But, he was currently more distracted by the way that voice washed over him. Then the first part of that explanation processed in his brain,

“What do you mean you’ve ‘encountered’ them?”

The being looked surprised for a moment, and then a look of shame crossed over his face, “Oh, no,” they murmured, “No, I cannot tell you. You might have Good in you. But you are still a demon. You are not to know. I cannot make it worse.”

Crowley was instantly intrigued. However, being the patient demon he was, and knowing that he had a good seven days (at least, he hadn’t decided yet), he let the angel keep their secrets. For now. It dawned on the demon that he hadn’t received an answer for his first question.

“Come on then, I asked you for a name and you completely ignored me” He feigned hurt in his expressions and the being looked suitably unimpressed.

They replied with, “Your name is Mr Crowley”

To which Crowley tutted, “Just Crowley, actually. Besides, I know what my name is,” He started, “I asked for yours”

The other drew a lip between their teeth. Sharp, pointed teeth, Crowley noted for future reference. Knotley should be please that the being didn’t bite her instead.

They seemed to ponder, for a moment, whether to acquiesce to Crowley’s request for an answer. After what appeared to be a small internal battle, the angel sighed, “Aziraphale”

“Aziraphale?” Crowley repeated, to a confirming nod from the other, “Aziraphale.” He tested the way it sounded in his mouth. “Beautiful” He decided, at which he noticed the others cheeks darken slightly, “Do you like it when I call you that?”

The glare he received this time felt a lot less like an actual glare, and more like the sort of mock-glare you give someone when you don’t want to admit that they’re actually correct. Crowley imagine that Aziraphale might have presented him with a smile afterwards, if not for the sudden wince and sharp intake of air through teeth that they gave instead. It was then that Crowley remembered the way they’d been protective over their wrist before.

He held out his own hand, “Let me see” He offered, wiggling his fingers just slightly when Aziraphale just looked at the proffered hand with the same level of trust you’d give a poisonous lizard, “I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to see how bad it is. See if I can help, you know?”

Aziraphale drew their wrist further into their own chest, “You are a demon. I have never known a demon to help.”

“Didn’t you just say you felt Good in me?” Much as Crowley was loathe to admit it, Aziraphale might have a point. Most demons would even think of helping another being out, let alone helping an angelic being out.

Aziraphale hesitated for a moment longer. Then, very gingerly, they placed their wrist upon Crowley’s hand, to which the demon internally cheered. Outwardly, however, he let out a smile and said, “There, that wasn’t so hard.”

That might have been a lie. It was obvious by the expression on the others face that they’d been holding the injury against themselves so long, that extended the limb out was proving more painful that Crowley had initially anticipated. There was definitely a break in there, a recent one at that, most likely having occurred at the same time as they received the wounds that littered their body. The area was extremely swollen and the hand was bent at an angle that didn’t look particularly natural.

Crowley resisted the urge to touch too firmly, but he did notice how extraordinarily soft the skin touching him was. For a being that spent the majority of their time underwater, the skin on their hands was silky smooth. Also webbed apparently, between the fingers, he noted absentmindedly as he continued to assess the damage.

“Well, definitely broken” He announced after a moment.

Aziraphale cocked their head to one side, that same unimpressed look back on their face, “Oh, is it? I had not noticed. Thank you, Doctor Crowley”

Crowley grinned. This angel could be cheeky when they wanted to be. That was an intriguing discovery. “Give me a second.” He replied, before taking the injured wrist between both of his hands, “This might hurt for a moment” And apparently it did, as Aziraphale made to remove his wrists from Crowley’s grasp, without realising what a bad idea that would be. As evidenced by the loud cry of pain. “Keep still, angel. I’ll be as quick as possible.”

With some degree of concentration, Crowley was able to miracle the bones back together, with hopefully minimal discomfort for Aziraphale. Though his quick glances up at the angel’s face concluded that the other might have been experience slightly more than minimal discomfort.

With the bones back in place, however, they took their hand back and flexed the webbed fingers in front of their face a couple times before a wide smile broke out on their face and they flung their arms around the demon.

“Thank you!” They exclaimed, the claws on their hand digging in to Crowley’s back ever so slightly and the demon in him couldn’t help but that how that might feel in certain other circumstances. Then he mentally slapped himself. _Now was not the time._ The embrace lasted a fair while before Aziraphale pulled away. Crowley hadn’t noticed while the embrace was happening, but as the other released him, he became hyperaware of his soaked-through shirt sticking to his skin. “Oh. I am sorry. I did not think…”

 “Don’t worry about it.” Crowley dismissed, waving a hand over the shirt and feeling the damp lift away, “There, all better”

Aziraphale looked happier again, “You are a very kind demon,” they announced, “Much kinder than the other demons”

Said demon scoffed, “Don’t want to be saying that too loud, you’ll have them coming after me for retraining” Aziraphale seemed horrified by the though, so Crowley quickly added, “I’m kidding, of course. I don’t think they really care what I get up to in my spare time”

That was probably a lie. But Crowley had flittered through most of his existence so far doing the bare-minimum of Evil Deeds to get by. This act of kindness wasn’t likely to be noticed by any of the higher ups Down There. Or, at least, he hoped not. At least Aziraphale seemed placated now, as they rolled over from their back to their belly and folded their arms over the rim of the tub where Crowley had first rested his elbows. They rested their head on their arms as Crowley turned the stool he was sitting on into a much more comfortable cushioned chair. He did not intend to leave this room any time soon.

“Why don’t you have a rest, angel,” He suggested, absentmindedly running his hand through the curls that framed the others face and watching how they were struggling to keep their eyes open, “You’ve been through rather a lot recently, haven’t you?”

Aziraphale nodded and hummed in agreement, having no fight left in them no argue against it, “You will be here still? When I awaken?”

“Wouldn’t want be anywhere else”


	2. Chapter 2

Crowley had been in the cabin-turned-prison for two days already. He was already aware of the suspicions that had been levelled his way at his sudden ‘helpfulness’ with regards to guarding Aziraphale. A number of times they had had visitors knocking on the door, asking if he wanted to ‘take a break and let someone else guard the creature for a while’.

He adamantly refused every time, and the pleased looks that were being sent his way after every refusal made it an easier burden to bear.

Aziraphale, after having slept for a good number of hours to allow their body time to heal, had apparently decided that Crowley was trustworthy enough after all. As such, Crowley had been able to fill in a large number of the blanks he had regarding the punishment that had befallen Aziraphale, and the duties that they were made to perform during their punishment. The group of punished angels that Aziraphale had been a part of were somewhat numerous in size; a good 20 or so angels, all having suffered the same punishment and been forced down to Earth.

According to his angel (Crowley wasn’t sure when in the past 48 hours he’d started referring to the angel as _his_ but he was enjoying the sound of it in his head too much to stop now), the group had been punished for ‘sympathising with those of Heaven who had turned their backs on Him’. In other words, Aziraphale and their group of angels had been punished because of Crowley and _his_ group of angels. The original Fallen. Sympathising, naturally, wasn’t as much of a sin as actively sauntering down to Hell, but it was counted as ‘questioning the will of Him’ and, as such, punishment had been dealt. Their wings had been taken and replaced with a tail and fins, and the ‘punished’ were tasked with assessing and taking those lost at sea for judgement. 

This tended to mean one of three things:

  * The person or people lost at sea were assessed to have Wickedness in their hearts and were therefore taken to the bottom of the sea where their lives were lost and their souls were readily available for collection by Them Below
  * The person or people lost at sea were assessed to have Good in their hearts; however, their physical bodies were too far gone for a mortal recovery. Death was dealt swiftly and their souls were sent to Heaven’s Gate.
  * The person or people lost at sea were assessed to have Good in their hearts and could have a mortal recovery. Help was summoned and these people tended to think their rescue was due to some sort of guardian angel. Others would be grateful for their safety and dismissive of their claims without knowing that, in a funny sort of way, they were right.



The duties should have been simple. However, things that ‘should be’ rarely actually ‘are’, and unfortunately, as time went on, some of the angels began to feel resentful at the punishment they had been dealt. Aziraphale had watched as beings that they had known and been close to, began to change in ways that they had not thought possible. Slowly, as their faith in Him ebbed away, the ‘punished’ grew more monstrous. They had learnt how to disguise themselves above water, still appearing beautiful and angelic to those they took a fancy for, but Aziraphale could see the difference under the ocean’s surface.

Their basic shape was still humanoid, but there was nothing else even remotely human-like about them anymore.

“It scared me.” Aziraphale confessed, “I had known these angels Above, but the longer it went on, the less I could recognise them.”

“Why didn’t they just Fall?” Crowley could help but ask.

Aziraphale shrugged, “Perhaps, in some way, that is Falling. I think it is safe to say, they have turned their backs on Him.”

“Maybe it’s not ‘Falling’ in the traditional sense,” Crowley agreed, “I think I understand. But what about their duties?”

At this, Aziraphale looked saddened, their eyes turned downcast and their lips twisting into a frown, “Sometimes they get it right,” He began, “But, they do not care who they take down now”

“So, no rescuing then?”

They shook their head.

“What about you?” A look of confusion met his eyes, so Crowley explained, “I just mean, what’s kept you from going that way?”

Aziraphale looked hesitant, worrying at their lower lip between their teeth as they looked away from Crowley’s eyes once more. It seemed to be a nervous tick of the angel’s, the more anxious they got, the more they began to look at anything that wasn’t him. “It has been… difficult” They murmured, so quiet that Crowley had to strain to hear it,

“You’ve had moments of doubt haven’t you?” He lifted Aziraphale’s chin up with his fingers to bring them back up to eye level, then he ran his fingers along the scales that littered the angel’s jawline and ran up the sides of their face, noting with interest the shiver that Aziraphale tried to suppress, “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”

Aziraphale pulled away, an expression of shame clearly visible on their face, “I was so angry. It had been over 1000 years and I was… angry. I thought He had forgotten us.” Crowley waited, watching as Aziraphale picked at one of the scales that ran up his arm, “I felt the change start. Saw the new scales appear, and then came these,” They indicated to the claws on their hands, “And these,” the teeth this time, “I panicked. I was so scared, and I prayed, and I begged for Forgiveness,” the angel sighed, “He was merciful. The last change happened 500 years ago. I cannot risk any more of them.”

Crowley took Aziraphale’s hands in his own, halting the angel from actually picking one of their scales off.

“Well, despite what they might symbolise,” He said, running a thumb over the shifting colours on the back of Aziraphale’s hand, “they certainly do look beautiful on you.”

Aziraphale seemed transfixed on the motion of Crowley’s thumb, their eyes following the movement back and forth, “You would not say that if you saw the final result,” They whispered, lips parting at the sensation of the light touch on their scales, “It is truly monstrous”

“When you’ve spent as much time in Hell as I have, nothing can look too monstrous” Crowley reminded the other, “I couldn’t imagine you looking anything other than stunning”

Outright flirting with an angelic being. Yes, this was likely to get him all of the commendations Down Below. This was demon-of-the-year award-worthy behaviour right here.

However, with Aziraphale leaning closer to him, a dark flush colouring their cheeks and a hopeful expression on their face as they whispered, “Do you truly think so?” Crowley couldn’t bring himself to care about the potential consequences of his next action.

One hand curled around the back of Aziraphale’s neck, while the other came up to stroke down their cheek and Crowley’s eyes were firmly planted on the angel’s pink lips, “Aziraphale,” He whispered, his face lips only inches away, “Can I kiss you?”

Aziraphale gave just the barest hint of a nod, before Crowley found himself with an armful of eager angel. Clearly, they had thought that Crowley had been acting too slowly, as their lips pressed insistently against the demons. It was as though they had just been waiting for a hint that they were allowed to do this and Crowley was kicking himself that he hadn’t asked sooner.

The lips against his own were out-of-practice, clumsily sliding and pressing as close as possible, and yet it felt like Heaven. Or maybe even better than Heaven. If Heaven had given Crowley pleasure like this, from something as simple as a kiss, then Crowley might not have up and left as easily as he did. Aziraphale had placed their arms around Crowley’s shoulders as his own had snaked around Aziraphale’s waist, holding the other upright and slightly out of the water.

Crowley pushed the tip of his tongue against the seam of Aziraphale’s lips, silently demanding entrance to the warm cavern of their mouth. They complied easily, and Crowley enjoyed the sharp intake of air as they felt the unnatural length of his tongue invade their mouth. That intake of air soon merged into a pleased moan and Crowley felt the angel reciprocate eagerly, taking everything Crowley was offering and giving back as good as they got.

Crowley ran his hands up and down Aziraphale’s back, enjoying every gasp, and moan, and shudder that accompanied the ministrations. He could feel the other simultaneously pushing their body as closer to Crowley and holding themselves back, as though they didn’t want to truly give in to the sensations they were being given.

After what could have been a few minutes or a few hours, Aziraphale pulled their lips away,

“Too much,” they whispered, their voice sounding breathless and wanton.

Crowley captured their lips once more, tugging a little bit at the lower lip with his teeth, before replying, “Don’t you want it, angel?”

Aziraphale nodded, “I do, yes,” and then they shook their head, “But I should not”

Crowley wanted to push further. He wanted, desperately, to tempt the angel into giving in to their lust. It would be so easy; they were 90% there already. But, Aziraphale had already explained to him how scared they were of the version of Falling that seemed to plague the punished. He couldn’t do that to them. He didn’t know if having sex with a demon would cause it, or if it was just a loss of faith that would do it - the risk was too great either way.

Therefore, he settled for gathering Aziraphale into his arms, the angel gasping slightly at the motion and making to pull away before realising what Crowley’s intentions were. Then, Crowley felt them let their body relax and allow their head to fall into the juncture at his neck, burying their face into the warm skin there.

***

They spent almost two hours like that. Aziraphale had long since perched themselves on Crowley’s lap, unconcerned with the water that soaked into his trousers now that they knew how easy it was for him to dry himself off. It was soothing to be able to let the rest of their tail hang in the water, the scales having been exposed to the drying salty air for longer than they should have been and Crowley quite enjoyed watching the way their fins floated loosely under the water. The sky blue was almost transparent when submerged and he could just see an iridescent shimmer against the light every so often.

Aziraphale, meanwhile, seemed content to play with Crowley’s fingers and hands, comparing the texture and the size to his own and running feather-soft fingers over the light smattering of hair on the back of Crowley’s hand.

It was peaceful, but one could never expect peacefulness to last for too long on a pirate ship and soon a sharp knock against the door, accompanied by the rattling of the handle, interrupted their quite moment. They couldn’t enter the cabin; a little trick that Crowley had mastered over the years, as humans proved themselves, repeatedly, to be too curious for their own goods. However, the longer he kept them out, the more persistent they would get and the more questions would be sent his way. Best get it over and done with now, he decided with a sigh.

“Time to get back in the water, angel” He said reluctantly, “I’d better see what they want”

Aziraphale slipped back in with little argument, submerging themselves as far as they could go. They were wary of the humans on board this ship. Humans, generally, didn’t tend to treat things that were ‘other’ with any great amount of respect. As much as Aziraphale could defend against most attacks, they didn’t want to risk anything right here and right now.

Crowley reapplied his spectacles and opened the door to find the same lower ranked member of the crew on the other side that had been initially guarding Aziraphale,

“Cap’n wants to see you” He informed Crowley, clearly trying to sound braver than he actually felt, “Says it’s urgent an’ ta not take no for an answer.”

Crowley rolled his eyes behind the lenses, “She wants me to leave them here unguarded?” He queries, indicating to Aziraphale,

“I’m ta take over for a while, is what she says,” the crewmate seemed to be looking anywhere but at Crowley himself, “reckons you been down ‘ere with it too long”

Crowley scowled, “Does she now?” He grumbled, “Well, I’d better see what her ladyship wants then, hadn’t I?” He turned to look at Aziraphale, who by this point had poked their eyes over the rim of the tub in an attempt to gauge what was going on, “I won’t be long” He announced, as both reassurance for Aziraphale and a warning to the crewmate.

With that, he pushed passed the young man and strode into the corridor, hoping to get this over with as soon as he possibly could. It was only a short walk to the captain’s cabin and Crowley had no need for knocking on doors as he barged through. It was a bit of a blow to his pride, when the Captain didn’t even look up at his entrance,

“Mr Crowley” She greeted,

“Captain, can I ask what this is about?”

She looked up from her map and gestured for him to come over, “Nice to see you could peel yourself away from the fish,” She quipped, ignorant of the glare she received from the demon, “Come and have a look at this”

She was pointing a tiny island that seemed to be not far from their current location. Crowley failed to see what the relevance of the island could have been, and he said as much, “It’s an island, I guess”

“No, it’s a continent,” She shot back, sarcasm lacing her words and following it with a mumble that sounded suspiciously like _‘Idiot’_ , “Yes of course it’s an island. But it’s not just any island, this one’s a bit special, you see”

“And why’s that?”

Knotley grinned, “Well, I’ve heard some talk recently, and what I’ve heard is that this tiny, little, inconspicuous island is home to one of the best auctions for noblemen to purchase both rare creatures and slaves”

As the words processed in Crowley’s mind, he had to resist the urge to gawk in abject horror, “Thought we were going to Tortuga,” He said, instead, “You know, conduct our business like honourable pirates?” Tortuga gave him another five days to figure out how to get both himself and Aziraphale off the ship without arousing too much backlash. Because in the two days Crowley had known the angel, he was already certain that he wasn’t going to be able to let them go without a fight.

“Now why would we do that?” Knotley questioned, “I already told you I want that thing off my ship as soon as possible. S’bad luck keeping it here, you know.”

‘Bad luck’? Human’s and their foolish predilections towards good and bad luck and the causes there of. Suspicious bunch of paranoid beings, more so than most other mammals. ‘Bad luck’ wasn’t keeping a punished angel as prisoner on board a pirate’s vessel. ‘Bad luck’ was pissing off the demon that had so far been your only cause of ‘good luck’. However, Crowley would be lying if he said the two weren’t connected.

She continued, unaware of the thin line she was currently treading, “This island is a mere days sailing away. And can you imagine the coin those noblemen will drop for the prize that we’re offering? Did you know, they say a single scale from one of those things could cure any ailment you can think of? Some even say, if you take enough of them, it could be the key to unlocking eternal youth. Dunno how, but I reckon we ought to take some for ourselves, don’t ya think? ”

A day? Crowley was going to have to hurry up and think of something. Never mind the rest of the rubbish she was spouting, he’d like to see her try to get near Aziraphale with any intention of removing their scales without Crowley having something to say about it. As it was, he was doing some impressive mental gymnastics to try to argue his way out of his current predicament. A fact that must have been showing more clearly on his face than he’d originally intended.

“Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft for it?”

Crowley feigned a scoff, “Please, Knotley, thought you’d have known me better than that by now?” He lied easily, “I’m just worried that you’ll do yourself a disservice. How do you know that the noblemen that visit that island will pay better than the noblemen that buy from Tortuga?”

He’s certain that she probably would have a comeback to that, if they hadn’t been interrupted by a loud scream, accompanied by, “I’ll fucking kill you!” yelled from a couple of decks below, that sent both of them into a sprint out of the cabin door.

It was not the first time that Crowley had been grateful for the longer-than-average legs his corporeal form had been dealt, as he reached the door to Aziraphale’s ‘prison’ in record time, much faster than Knotley had managed. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he slammed open the door, blind panic having sent him running before he could think about what he was running in to. However, Aziraphale with blood on their lips and a shaky pistol aimed at their head, and the crewmate looking deathly pale and clutching his hand into his stomach probably wasn’t going to be his first guess.

With a mere thought, he emptied the pistol of all gunpowder, eliminating that immediate danger, so then he could focus on figuring out what the situation in front of him was. He moved swiftly to Aziraphale, assessing him for any obvious signs of damage, before the other occupant of the room decided to make it easier for him,

“Look what it did to me!” He cried, holding out the hand that he’d been protecting to wave it in front of Crowley’s face.

Despite knowing that the situation wasn’t really anything to laugh about, Crowley had to restrain himself from laughing in the man’s face, as he waved his two bloodied finger stumps at them with a look of pure indignation all over his face. Crowley gave him about another two minutes before he collapsed into an unconscious mess on the floor. Aziraphale, for their part, was directing their gaze firmly on the floor next to Crowley’s feet. The situation probably wasn’t quite as amusing for them.

“Well, what were you doing prodding them then?” Crowley queried, his tone similar to one his would take as if scolding a disobedient child.

The crewmate’s mouth fell open, and Crowley could almost hear the rebuttal forming, until he heard the click of a loaded pistol interrupt them.

“I think you should take two steps to the left now, Mr Crowley”

Lucifer himself couldn’t have got Crowley to take any steps away from Aziraphale right now, so he didn’t know what chance Knotley thought she had, cocked pistol and extra men (that she’d apparently gathered on the way) or not. With the same power he’d applied before, Knotley would now find her pistol useless if she did try to fire it, but the captain was sneakier than most and without knowing what else she had up her sleeve there was nothing Crowley could do to be certain that there was no immediate danger. The situation was, therefore, still highly precarious.

“I don’t think I’m going to do that, Captain.” He said, firmly,

“You’re really going to ally yourself with that thing, instead of us?” She asked, disbelief evident in her voice, “You’ve been a loyal part of this crew for five years”

Crowley rolled his eyes. He’d truly thought she was smarter. To assume that any member of a pirate’s crew were actually loyal was foolishness of the highest order.

“You really think shooting them is the best course of action here?” If Crowley could appeal to her sense of greed, that would buy him more time to come up with an escape plan before they reached that island, “You think you’ll get anywhere near as much for them dead, rather than alive?”

He held her gaze for a long moment. Then, as if on cue, the injured crewmate chose that moment to lose consciousness, their body crumpling to the floor like a marionette puppet with its strings cut.

“Oh, now, that doesn’t look so good” Crowley pointed out, feigning genuine concern, “I reckon he needs to go to Boyle” Boyle was the ship’s medic. In the loosest sense of the word. Maybe less medic and more ‘the only person on board that is relatively okay at stitching body part A to body part B’. That sounded more accurate.

Knotley glanced from Crowley, to her stricken crewmate, then back to Crowley again. A scowl planted firmly on her face she pocketed her pistol, “Don’t think this is over, Crowley. You and your pet,” She spat the phrase out in Aziraphale’s direction, “are off this ship as soon as we reach land. I’m sure the Navy would love to get their hands on you.”

Crowley held her glare as if in silent challenge. Her threats were of little concern; his priority remained on making sure Aziraphale never got within 100 yards of that auction. After a moment longer, Knotley signalled to one of her ‘bodyguards’ to gather the floored crewmate, before turning on her heel and storming out of the door. As they were leaving, Crowley happened to notice something on the floor near Aziraphale’s tub,

“Oh, Captain!” He called, walking briskly to the door and up to the woman in question, “think you might need these.” He remarked, holding out two, somewhat grey looking, fingers by the tips, “Don’t let Boyle stitch them on backwards, that would just be unfortunate” He finished with a wink, as he turned back for the cabin before she could utter a word in retaliation.

He had locked the door behind him and knelt down next to Aziraphale in a matter of seconds, “So, what happened?” He asked, in a voice much gentler than what he’d previously been using as his hands searched for a cloth of some sort in order to wipe the blood off a very distressed-looking angel,

“I do not like to do that,” they whispered, their voice a touch shaky, “I never like to cause unnecessary hurt”

“Was it unnecessary?”

The angel swallowed, uncertainty clouding their features, “I…. do not know”

Crowley looked over the other’s form, searching for any extra scaling or fins anywhere on their body. Finding nothing of note, he took Aziraphale’s hands, urging them to keep their attention on Crowley, “Aziraphale, if you had really caused that man unnecessary harm, wouldn’t there be some signs of change?”

Aziraphale looked panicked, and all Crowley needed now was for them to tell him that changes didn’t happened immediately or some such issue as that. He could have breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that what Aziraphale was actually doing, was searching their form for changes as well. Apparently, something they hadn’t thought to do before.

“I suppose.” They mumbled

“So, what did that man do, that caused you to do that to him?”

Aziraphale chewed their bottom lip, “He had… harmful intentions,” they said eventually, “To… towards me.”

“Should I not have given him his fingers back?” That earned Crowley a fraction of a smile, and he chose to count that as a small victory, so he tried for more clarity, “Please, Aziraphale, could you be a little more specific?”

Aziraphale sighed, removing their hands from Crowley’s grasp and folding them across their chest, “When he walked through the door, and you had left, he asked me if I were a woman, or a man… in so many words. His language was more colourful, I am sure you can imagine.”

Crowley had to admit, it was something he was curious about; Angels, as a rule, didn’t have genders – biological or otherwise. Moreover, unless given a corporeal form, sexual desire was off the cards as well. Sexual desire wasn’t even something that much thought was given to when given their corporeal forms, even though they had the capacity for it. Angels, overall, thought themselves above such baser instincts. However, the form that Aziraphale, and indeed all of the ‘punished’, had been given was not one of Earthly origin. So were they bound to the same rules? Aziraphale certainly seemed to have the capacity for desire, if the kiss that Crowley had been granted beforehand had been any indication.

As before, these questions could be answered later. Crowley was more interested in the events that had led to a man’s fingers being removed by force,

“Did he do something, with these intentions I mean?”

Aziraphale nodded, slowly, “He was full of lust. Usually I have to present alternative forms to those I wish to approach for judgment, but his was a lust born of curiosity and a desire for… dominance. I could feel his intentions rolling off him in waves. Suffocating me.” Another swallow, and then they finally looked up at Crowley, “He came towards me, to… touch me, I suppose. I think I panicked, for the next thing I knew, there was screaming and yelling and I could taste blood”

By this point, Crowley was gripping the edge of the tub so tightly his knuckles were turning white, he was almost glad that Aziraphale had taken their own hands back. If he hadn’t been so angry, he might have been impressed that the angel had managed to _actually bite_ a man’s fingers off. As it was, he had half a mind to go down to the medic’s cabin and rip off more than just two of that bastard’s fingers off. He probably might have actually done it, if not for a gentle touch on his arm bringing him back down to the present. He hadn’t even noticed Aziraphale move,

“It is okay, my dear,” Aziraphale soothed, “He did not actually cause harm to me…”

“But he wanted to” Crowley interrupted, “He had every intention of…”

“And yet, he did not” Aziraphale interrupted back, “Besides, he is marked now”

That made Crowley pause and raise an eyebrow, “’Marked’?”

The angel nodded, and then motioned Crowley closer. Crowley complied quickly, bringing the chair he’d been in before over to the side of the tub and allowing Aziraphale to rest their head on Crowley’s lap. He waited a moment as Aziraphale got themselves comfortable, and then the angel explained, “‘Marking’ acts a sort of fail safe,” they began, “should we fail to bring a soul in for judgment, perhaps the target realises what is happening before they are far enough into the water, we can mark them with just a touch. They do not even realise what has happened and believe they have saved themselves.”

“So what does it do?”

“It is a… beacon. Or maybe, a calling is a better word for it.” The angel said, “It will attract others of the punished to them, like blood in the water. Usually, it is the changed who find them first. Soon enough, he will not be able to go near the water without attracting attention.”

Crowley nodded in understanding. It made him feel at least a little bit better, even if he wasn’t going to be able to enact revenge himself, at least the knowledge that the crewmate has, essentially, a pack of predators waiting to drag him down to the depths of the ocean at any given moment in time. It was a soothing thought.

Aziraphale seemed content to rest like that, their cheek pillowed on Crowley’s lap, one of Crowley’s hands resting in their own while the other threaded through their curls. Crowley, too, would have been content to rest like that. Unfortunately, there was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed.

He gave the other a couple of moments longer, and then he whispered, “Aziraphale?”, to which he garnered a low hum in reply, “I think we need to start planning how to get off this ship, as quickly and quietly as possible…”

“It is okay.” Aziraphale murmured, to Crowley’s great confusion. He would have thought the angel would be quite eager to get off a ship that contained so much ill intent towards them, that intended to take them to an island to be auctioned off to the highest bidder,

“Aziraphale, I don’t think…”

“I am saying, is it okay” They reaffirmed, “This ship cannot moor on the island, it is not possible. They will have to take us inland by longboat, or dinghy.” They explained, and then flexed their tail fins out of the tub to show the healing process to Crowley, “I will be healed by then. I am much faster in the water than I am out of it. We can rest until then.”

Crowley suddenly understood, “Oh, you brilliant angel” He remarked, hugging Aziraphale closer to his body and pressing his lips against the angel’s forehead, a bright smile appearing on their lips. It was only a matter of time then.

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a short multi-chaptered story. Most of it is already written, I'm just working out some plot points that I'm not certain about.  
> Hopefully (though with my track I'm not certain) this will be all posted and finished this month!  
> This story will be explicit in later chapters. It may or may not feature Intersex!Aziraphale (haven't quite decided yet). And it may or may not feature mpreg (again these are some of the plot points I've yet to work out)  
> Let me know if you're particularly for or against any of those themes.
> 
> Come and scream with me about Good Omens and Ineffable Husbands and particularly Aziraphale (because I love him so very much) on my tumblr if you want (https://casenumber825.tumblr.com/)


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